Tuesday, September 25, 2007

It is laundry day again

When I first met Mark, he lived with two budgerigars: a white and blue one named Mr. Billings and a green and yellow one named Sir Bayle. Bayle was a bit older than Billings. He was very sweet but not so bright. Billings was a bit more crafty. Budgies in general are smart, crafty birds.

One afternoon, Bayle was singing happily. Billings was perched on one foot a few inches from him, pretending to be asleep. As Bayle sang, Billings crept up to him, moving a few millimeters closer and then resuming his fake sleeping stance. Finally, when he was close enough to Bayle (who was still singing and quite oblivious), he kicked him! Bayle was surprised of course, and the two of them had a good play-fight.

Mark and I stopped getting budgies because we couldn't find anyone who had healthy birds. A budgie should live to be 7-10 years old, or even older. But because they are a small and inexpensive bird, they are over bred. But I love budgies! They are so cheerful and so tricky! Budgies like to party. I also think that Lester would enjoy the company--not in his own cage, of course, but in a separate cage next to his.

Help Protect Bees

The work of pollinators (such as bees, butterflies, and humming birds) ensures full harvests of many agricultural crops and contributes to healthy plants everywhere...As landscapes are converted from wild to managed lands, many pollinators’ habitats may be destroyed or fragmented. More than half of the food we eat depends on bees and other animals for pollination. Most of the fruit and vegetable producing plants we rely on need honeybee pollination to thrive--which is why the disappearance of honeybees known as Colony Collapse Disorder is a critical environmental issue. To learn more about research for Colony Collapse Disorder, visit Pollinator Partnership.